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Breast Cancer (Expert Forum)
Need to chemothrapy
Questions posted in the Breast Cancer Forum are answered by medical professionals from The Cleveland Clinic. Topics include Breast Biopsy, Chemotherapy, Hormone Therapy, Lumps, Lumpectomy, Lymph node dissection, Lymphedema, Mammograms, Mastectomy, Radiation Therapy, Reconstruction, Self Breast Exam, and Surgery.
Doctor's Answer
by CCF-RN,MSN-JS, Jan 14, 2002 12:00AM
Dear Fatia, According to the 2000 National Institute of Health Consensus Conference on Adjuvant Therapy for Breast Cancer. Adjuvant chemotherapy (treatment given after surgery to try to prevent or minimize the growth of microscopic deposits of tumor cells that might grow into a recurrent tumor) is recommended for the majority of women with primary breast cancers that are greater than 1 cm in diameter. This is independent of nodal, menopausal or hormone receptor status. If the surgery you had was a lumpectomy, radiation therapy is recommended to treat the remaining breast tissue, this is generally done once adjuvant chemotherapy has been completed. If your tumor was positive for estrogen receptors the current recommendation is for follow up with 5 years of tamoxifen therapy.
